


The End Is the Beginning

by SnowRebel



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Happy Ending, Happy Voltron, Let Lance achieve happiness 2k18, M/M, Slow Burn, They just need to be happy okay?, season 8 AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-22 23:38:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17069384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowRebel/pseuds/SnowRebel
Summary: After saving Earth, the paladins go back into space to bring peace to the universe and complete their journey as the universe's legendary defender.Basically: The final season of Voltron only everyone is happy and conflicts from the previous seven seasons are actually solved.





	1. Lion Force Voltron

**Author's Note:**

> Just some fluff to start off this fit because we were robbed of watching all the reactions of the paladins to the show made after them.

A week after the paladins had defeated Sendak and the robeast on Earth it was announced that the show Lion Force Voltron would air in their honor, highlighting the adventures of Earth’s greatest protectors. The shows producers had visited each of the paladins along with Coran to ask them of their time in space to create a story that captured some of the dangers the paladins had faced in space such as Zarkon and Lotor. However, between Coran and Lance’s dramatic interpretations and the creative liberties the directors took, the show was less than accurate. 

To ensure Voltron would be able to see the show before departing back into space, the directors had rushed through production and within three months the first season was set up to premiere online. While the directors had thrown a release party for the paladins to attend, the group politely declined deciding it was best to have a night in after going months without seeing one another to view the show together. Their viewing party was the first time since the battle with the robeast that it had just been the seven of them in a room together and the paladins went all out. Hunk had made enough snacks to feed an army themed of course to their adventures through space, Lance had brought his families multitude of Voltron merchandise, and Pidge had transformed her families living room into a theatre equipped with loudspeakers and a screen taking up an entire wall.

In the few moments before the episodes were released the group settled down into the Holt’s family living room to view the show. Lance squeezed between Pidge and Hunk on one couch all under a green lion blanket, Allura and Coran took the love seat where Coran had proudly draped across him a Voltron snuggie, and Keith and Shiro sat on the floor with a Voltron blanket. As Lance excitedly spoke about his theories for how the show would go the rest of the paladins relaxed, comfortable just by being in one another’s presence again. The past few months had been spent in hospitals and preparing Voltron and Atlas to go back into space, and the premiere was a nice break from the responsibilities that the paladins faced while giving them a chance for some bonding time that didn’t involve a life-or-death scenario. 

For the last minute before the release, Pidge had set a countdown on the television which Lance decided to loudly count down with the timer. 

“59..58..57..” Lance announced, excitedly jumping up and down.

“Dude, I love you but you are shaking the couch. Do you think you could stop bouncing so much?” Hunk kindly asked the vibrating human sitting next to him. 

“Wait a tick, why did you set it to seconds instead of ticks? Ticks are so much more efficient.” Coran complained.

“It would have taken longer to get a tick timer instead since people on Earth use seconds. Plus, in this household we use seconds Coran. If you don’t like it then we can use ticks when we aren’t on Earth.” Pidge explained, becoming defensive and ready to start up her and Coran’s never ending argument over whether ticks or seconds were better. 

“Quiznak, it’s about to start, can you all shush so we can see the show?” Allura interrupted before Coran could launch into his preplanned argument. The room quieted for a moment as the loud theme song began to play, however it wasn’t long before the room interrupted into chaos again.

“Oh please, Mullet is way too emo to be so friendly and leader-ey.” Lance whined as he watched the ridiculous excuse for Keith on screen, rolling his eyes.

“Shut up. I’m the black paladin Lance, of course they are going to show me as a leader since I am one.” Keith snapped out of mild annoyance whilst crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Do I really sound like that?” Pidge asked as a small character appeared on screen. 

“You sound fine enough Pidge, the real question is why the hell they thought I sounded like that? I spoke to them, they should have known I don’t have some weird unknown foreign accent. How could they even think that sounds remotely like me?” Shiro whined, upset with the differences in his character Sven.

“Oh, it’s probably because I told them about the hot Shiro from the alternate reality. That Shiro looked a lot younger with the lack of gray hair and all. With the foreign accent and younger hair they are probably just trying to make you more attractive to younger audiences. ” Lance responded, smirking. 

“My hair is white and they don’t need to change my character, I’m Shiro the Hero, kids love me. Besides, 25 isn’t even that old Lance.” Shiro defended, holding a hand self consciously up to his hair. 

“Sure thing old man.” Keith said smirking at Shiro. Shiro lightly pushed Keith in response.

“Oh quiznack, who is that fine young man?” Coran called out as his character appeared on screen. “I don’t know what it is about him, but I like him.” 

“I may be a princess but I am not a damsel in distress. Who gave the producers the idea that I need someone to take care of me?” Allura questioned, narrowing her eyes while scanning the paladins. 

“The patriarchy maybe?” Pidge offered, still upset at the little gremlin they portrayed her as. “They made me a guy, I think. Or just an angry small gremlin. I guess they didn’t want strong and empowering female characters. The damsel in distress image unfortunately sells here on Earth princess.”

“Well the producers may have gotten their hands on the tapes from your shows across the galaxy. You know, for reference... Where you needed to be saved by the great defender Voltron.” Coran responded nervously, inching away from Allura. Before Allura could go after Coran however, Keith interrupted.

“I forgot you did those shows, you know I never got a chance to see them. Coran, you don’t happen to have those tapes still do you?” Keith asked curiously.

The rest of the paladins whipped around to glare at Coran as Coran unaware of the warnings from the other paladins materialized a disc. “As a matter of fact, I have a copy right here. Can’t go anywhere without it, never know when you need to convince someone to join the Voltron coalition. Would you like to see it? I think you will be most impressed by Allura’s impersonation of you number three.” Coran said proudly, marching towards the television to slide the disc in. 

The sounds of screaming were soon drowned out by groans and Keith’s laughter.


	2. Deserving of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura and Lance go on a date but things don't work out as Lance expects them to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because season 7 awkwardly had Allura develop a crush on Lance I thought I should address that. The relationship between Allura and Lance is sweet in season eight but I didn't feel like it had proper development and it seemed like Lance had liked Allura significantly more than she had liked him. #LetLanceBeSomeone'sFirstChoice

In the last week of the paladins time on Earth, something extraordinary happened to Lance: Allura asked him out. To make sure he wasn’t having another one of his recurring dreams of Allura falling madly in love with him, Lance had pinched both himself and Allura for good measure. Why he had pinched her, he wasn’t sure but when she flinched and he didn’t wake up, he immediately shouted out “yes!” without a second thought. Of course, he hadn’t thought of what this would entail until later that night and he had called Hunk in his state of excitement and panic to scream about the potential of a date with the princess.

  
“Hunk! My dude, my bro, my platonic life partner, We are in a code red emergency.” Lance spewed out as soon as he heard Hunk had picked up his phone.

  
“Lance? Code red? Hold up are we under attack again? I thought we were supposed to be on vacation right now, can’t the aggressive evil aliens hold off for just another week? Mom and I are making our way through all of our pie recipes before I am subjected to food goo for months on end and we still have at least four kinds of pies to make!” Hunk panicked.

“What? No, no aliens are attacking. It’s Allura- she-she asked me on a date.” Lace responded uncertainly.

  
“Hold on, Allura? Asked you on a date? Dude that’s awesome! What are you going to do? Where are you going? Oh god have you picked out an outfit yet? Oh man, I’m so happy for you.” Hunk screamed in second hand excitement for his best friend.

  
“I think- we’re going to dinner? I don’t know- we haven’t figured it out yet. I thought she didn’t like me though, after years of seemingly being uninterested she suddenly wants to go out? I just- it’s all so sudden. And I had just gotten over her too but she is so beautiful and kind and how could I say no? But like- what if this is all a joke or we go out and she realizes she doesn’t like me or-” Lance rambled on.

  
“Woah, woah hold up buddy. I’m sure if Allura asked you out it’s because she likes you. She’s not a cruel person and wouldn’t intentionally hurt you. I know you were pining over her for years but this is as much your decision as it is hers, relationships work two ways and you shouldn’t worry about what she thinks of you. I know you tend to change yourself to fit others needs and be what they want you to be, but be yourself and don’t worry about changing anything about yourself to gain someone else’s approval. You are amazing and deserve to be loved for who you are, not who you pretend to be to please others.” Hunk rambled on, hoping to convince Lance’s insecurities that he is enough and allow Lance to go through his date without trying to change who he is to make Allura happy. Lance was silent for a few moments and Hunk was about to ask if Lance was still there when Lance began to hesitantly respond.

  
“Yeah, thanks Hunk. You’re right I’m just so nervous. I wanted for this for so long and now that I finally have it I’m just so-” Lance carefully said, pausing to try and find the words.

  
“I get it, just know that this is your choice too and if Allura is the thing that makes you happy then tell her. Be with her. If she’s not though that’s okay, people change and you aren’t the same person you were when you met Allura. She won’t be upset if it doesn’t work. But go- have fun and hopefully you can figure out what you want.” Hunk filled in, hoping to show his unwavering support of his best friend.

  
“Alright, thanks Hunk. Well then, I guess I have a date to start getting ready for, I only have 24 hours. How am I supposed to get my skin looking flawless, find an outfit, and practice my newest pickup lines in that amount of time? God Hunk, I don’t know if I can make it.” Lance whined.

  
Hunk just laughed at him though, knowing the boy had a flair for the dramatic. “You can do it Lance. Good luck on your date and let me know how it goes as soon as it’s over.” Hunk finished, hanging up on his panicking friend.

  
______________________

  
The phone call to Hunk had managed to reduce most of Lance’s anxiety, but by the time the date rolled around and he had made his way to Allura’s, Lance’s stomach was a pit of butterflies. Upon telling his mom he had a date, she had created a bouquet for Lance to give Allura and had gone on a shopping spree with Lance to get a new button down shirt and sweater to impress Allura. Lance wasn’t one to focus too much on his appearance- or hell he was. But he looked damn good tonight.

  
Knocking nervously on Allura’s door, Lance’s hands began to sweat and he started considering leaving before he could embarrass himself. Before he could turn around though, the door opened revealing Coran. Coran was standing tall in the doorway with a stern look on his face.

  
“Well well look who we have here, Lance McClain. Tell me, what makes you think you are good enough for my Allura? Did you even bring references for me to check?” Coran said sternly, staring down Lance.

  
“Oh Coran leave him be. I asked him out and he is plenty worthy. Now leave, I will be back later tonight.” Allura interrupted, coming into view. Lance knew Allura was beautiful but she looked particularly beautiful tonight- in a new white dress, a nice necklace and light makeup highlighting her features.

  
“New dress?” Lance said, immediately regretting not starting with telling her how pretty she was.

 

“Yes, Pidge helped me pick out some of your earthen clothing that would be appropriate for a date.” Allura responded, smiling gently.

  
“Which reminds me- did you even try to find the proper courting clothing Lance? The least you could have done is dress up in some Altean garments to properly court the princess.” Coran shouted as Allura pushed him away and closed the door.

  
“You-um- I got these for you.” Lance quickly said as he threw the flowers into Allura’s hands. Once Allura had thanked him they began walking, casually speaking about their days and how their vacations were going.

  
As the date went on, Lance couldn’t help but feel as though something was off. He had wanted this for so long and had spent countless nights dreaming about being with Allura but something seemed off about the night- it didn’t feel quite right. It was awkward and as much as he adored Allura, he didn’t feel that spark you are expected to feel when you are around the person you like. Stopping in a park, Lance and Allura sat awkwardly next to one another on a park bench.

  
“You know, when we were out there- fighting against the Galra I somehow felt like- like we were a family. Each of us was alone- but we were alone together. I see now that everyone else has a family to return to-everyone but me. I used to think the team relied on me but- I think it was I who has relied on all of you. I need you all Lance and I fear I will have nowhere to go once this war is over.” Allura said, looking away from Lance.

  
Shocked, Lance wasn’t sure how to respond for a second. “Allura- your home is with all of us. With Voltron. We are your family and while we also have families on Earth, that will never change that Team Voltron has become more than just being defenders of the universe- we’ve become a family. And Voltron isn’t the only family you have either, you also have Coran and Romelle and the mice- so many people and creatures who care about you, love you, and rely on you. I can only imagine how hard it is for you to lose your father- your family- your home. But you are the strongest woman I know and your perseverance, kindness, and love inspires entire galaxies. You say you are worried of not having a home, of someone to go home to, but I can promise you that you will always have a home to go back to and you will not spend a day of your life without unconditional love. Not if I can help it.” Lance said gently, his words filled with love.

  
Allura gently smiled at this, moving to face Lance. “Lance you are too kind. You have always been there for me and have supported me. I dismissed you for a long time and your feelings and I am sorry for that. You have always been there for me and have made me a better person but I fear I haven’t always done the same for you.” Silence fell between the two for a few moments before Lance hesitantly spoke up.

  
“Allura… why did you ask me out? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that you did.. but what made you change your mind about me?” Allura pressed her lips together as she thought over this question before answering.

  
“When I was still with Lotor, the mice told me that you admitted to loving me. I pretended not to know at first and I tried to dismiss the idea, but then things happened with Lotor and, well. Lance, you are a kind man. You have grown a lot since we first met and your support of me has made me think that maybe you could become my family. I have been so focused on where I will go after this war is over and I’ve been considering how you would make a lovely person to come home to. I love how you love others and I feel I could grow to love you too.” Allura responded honestly. Lance was quiet for a moment, remembering Hunk’s words on relationships being two way streets. How he had always dreamed that when he met his special someone he would be as much their first choice as they would be his. It had broken his heart when he hadn’t been Allura’s first choice and while time heals heartbreak, he still wasn’t over that.

  
“Allura- I will always be there for you but I don’t want to be your backup plan or the person who you choose thinking you could possibly grow to love one day. I loved you- that much is true, and I still do but. It’s different now. I get you want a home but me and the rest of Voltron will always be your home- no matter the circumstances. We don’t need to force ourselves into a relationship for that to be true. You should be with someone who you can love fully and irrevocably, someone you don’t have to question whether or not you love because in your heart you just know. I was- I was so excited when you asked me out but I think that wasn’t me but the old Lance, the Lance that would do anything for your approval and love. When you were with Lotor it hurt, but I moved on. When you asked me out I thought you had given me everything I could have ever wanted... but… I think maybe it would be better if we just stayed friends?” Lance said slowly, his heart slightly breaking at the honesty within his own words. A year ago he would have killed himself to date Allura but now- those feelings just didn’t exist anymore. Sure, Allura was beautiful and kind and would make a lovely girlfriend but Lance just- didn’t feel any romantic feelings towards her anymore and it took Allura’s confession for him to realize that.

  
Allura just smiled at him after that though, she didn't seem upset in the least. “I fear you may be right. You too deserve to be with someone who can love you without question, and that person will be so lucky when you find them.” Allura said gently, kissing Lance’s cheek. “I should be heading back now, Coran is probably getting ready to pull together a search party. Though, thank you Lance. I am lucky to call you a friend.” Allura said while smiling, before turning around to head back.

  
“Hey Allura, get some rest. You’re going to need it to kick some alien ass when we get back into space. We have a universe to save.” Lance said, pulling himself back to the present.

  
“You too Lance” Allura said gently while walking away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I will probably sporadically update this fic as I go but I'm on a roll so hopefully I will have another chapter tomorrow! Feedback always welcome and I would love to hear what you think of this story so far!


	3. The Lance Who Knows Exactly Who He Is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith have a heart-to-heart and the paladins enjoy their last day on Earth with their loved ones.

Lance had never been partial to strategy meetings and he couldn’t help but feel his eyes begin to close after being in a meeting for over an hour as Shiro went on about plans for the launch of Atlas and Voltron in 24 hours. He knew the meeting was important, but he could only listen to Shiro for so long before he wanted to stretch out and take a nap. After endless speaking however, he finally heard the magic words that snapped his attention back to the meeting.

“There’s still one more item to discuss.” As Shiro spoke Lance was simultaneously excited that the meeting was nearly over, and annoyed that there were still more things to discuss on their last night on Earth. “It’s our last night on Earth and we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us. We may not be back home for years. So I’m ordering you to take some time for yourselves. Be with the ones you love. You’ve earned it.”

With the final address, people started filing out of the room and Lance jumped up to hug the nearest paladin, happening to be Pidge, in excitement. “Oh man, finally. God I thought Shiro was going to keep talking and we were going to miss the launch tomorrow.” Lance complained, hugging Pidge tightly against him and feeling her squirm.

“I heard that Lance.” Shiro said sternly. Looking away, Lance began moving out of the room, draping an arm around Pidge to pull her alongside with him.

“So pidgeon, little gremlin, tech wizard extraordinaire, how are you going to spend your last day on Earth?” Lance asked curiously.

“Well, Shiro is coming over tonight for dinner. Dad and Matt have taken him under their wing since the whole Adam thing. We’re probably just going to watch some of that show Voltron and have a night in. It will be the last night for a while to just be with my family, even if they are going into space with us. I’m sure dad wouldn’t mind if you wanted to come over tonight?” Pidge questioned.

“Nah, little pidgeon. Sir Lancelot has plans larger than dinner- it’s the last day on Earth I gotta give Earth a taste of all this since their favorite paladin won’t be around for awhile y’know?” Lance responded, gesturing to his own body suggestively.

“Statistically speaking, Keith is the most popular paladin, you know that right? He’s beat you 2-1.” Pidge clarified, remembering a popularity poll that had been released for the characters loosely based off of them in their show. Lance just scoffed at this and began to mutter something about Keith and his ‘stupid mullet’.

“So what are you doing with your final day then? You never answered my question about that.” Pidge asked, trying to distract Lance. Lance just smiled deviously at this.

“Well if you must know, I am testing my greatness and am going through battle preparations before we go out into space. Gotta stay on the top of my game to kick some Galra ass.” Lance said proudly. Pidge however, did not seem impressed.

“So you’re going to sit at home and play Monopoly? You sure Veronica isn’t going to crush you so hard we’ll need to find a red paladin?” Pidge asked with a blank expression, remembering the terror of playing games in the McClain household. Things got ugly and it was very possible Lance wouldn't make it out alive with how shitty he was at board games.

“Yeah pretty much, and tonight is the night I finally beat her Pidgeon! Don’t worry about me, Lancelot is out for revenge tonight! We will make history tonight!” Lance valiantly shouted, throwing his fist in the air with a battle cry. Pidge just snorted at Lance’s dramatic behavior.

“Sure buddy. Alright well I’m going to head home. I’ll see you tomorrow for the launch, yeah?” Pidge asked.

“You know, it, I’ll be the one in blue.” Lance said fondly as he watched Pidge head off to her brother Matt.

_________________

After Lance’s talk with Pidge he couldn’t help but think about what the rest of the paladins were doing with their last day. Pidge and Shiro would be with the Holt family, Hunk was planning on cooking a large meal for his family, Allura and Coran were going to spend the day together probably recounting memories of Altea and King Alfor, but what about Keith? Keith’s mother had already left to return to fighting the Galra and Keith didn’t have any other family, so did he have somewhere to go? Probably not. Knowing emo loner Keith he probably disappeared somewhere to sit by himself all night. That wouldn’t do though. Even Keith deserved a nice night with friends and family to remember Earth by.

Lance decided then to find Keith and bring him back home with him tonight. His mother would be thrilled to have the visitor and the McClain family surely would have prepared more than enough food for an extra seat at the table. Finding him was a lot harder than he initially thought, but he couldn’t help but find it obvious Keith would retreat back to the desert when he saw the black lion sitting on the edge of a cliff. _Figures Mullet would be emo as shit and sit out alone in the desert on his last night on Earth_ , Lance thought to himself as he made his way to the black lion.

“You know, you can be a hard guy to find when you want to be.”

“Hey Lance. What’s up?” Keith responded sighing, not looking over to Lance as Lance threw himself down next to him.

“Oh you know, just the usual. Leaving people swooning left and right over the best paladin.” Lance responded casually. Keith rolled his eyes at that but a light smile fell across his face.

“I thought I was the best paladin though? According to that popularity poll that is.” Keith responded smirking. He knew that would get a rise out of Lance. Lance just started sputtering for a few moments before Keith interrupted to continue, “Since we’ve been on Earth I haven’t seen you much. What have you really been up to? Other than scaring people left and right with your weird wooing techniques.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know those wooing techniques work. Last week I even took Allura on a date.” Lance said defensively.

“A date with Allura?” Keith sounded surprised and… something else that Lance couldn’t identify. “Well done Lance.”

“Thanks, but it was also our last date. She’s great and all but Loverboy Lance can’t be tied down to any one person. It’s just not fair to the universe.” Lance sighed, looking out to the sun setting before them.

“She dumped you then? Are you okay?” Keith sounded concerned as he turned to Lance. Of course Mullet would assume that Allura had to break up with him and not the other way around.

“Hey! I was not the dumpee not the dumper, and don’t look so surprised about it. Allura’s great and all but it just.. Didn’t feel right. I guess she’s just not the future Mrs. Lance McClain.” Lance sighed.

“I’m sorry, I just… you liked Allura so much before I guess I’m surprised that you have moved on from that. It’s her loss though you know?” Keith responded carefully, frustrated with himself and his implications. Silence fell over the two paladins for a moment as they watched the sun slip under the horizon.

“Watching the sun set?” Lance suddenly asked as if it wasn’t obvious.

“Yeah, might be awhile before we get to see it again.” Keith responded.

“Man, I’m really going to miss this place.” Lance sighed.

“That’s why we’ve got to end this war. And we are going to do it with the Lance that doesn’t let anything get him down, that’s the paladin of the Red Lion. We are going to win this war with the Lance that’s always got my back and the Lance who knows exactly what he’s got to offer.” Keith said, determined to lift up Lance. Sure Lance may have broken up with Allura, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel any pain over it. Keith wasn’t the best with words and comforting people, but his words had Lance smiling and lightly blushing. Keith couldn't help but smile back at his right hand man.

“You sure you don’t want a better paladin? I’m sure we could recruit another alien to the red lion with higher popularity ratings.” Lance said teasingly.

“Hey, don’t give me that. The team needs you- I need you. Not some random alien. We need you, the annoying, stupid Earth version of you. There’s no one I trust more to be my right hand man than you Lance.” Keith snapped. Lance wasn’t sure how to respond to that so he didn’t, letting the conversation lapse into silence for minutes before he realized why he went looking for Keith in the first place.

“So are you planning on sitting out here all night Mullet? Because as lovely as it is, it’s already getting damn cold and I know you probably haven’t eaten today.” Lance questioned, glancing over to Keith.

“I… okay yeah. But what’s so wrong with that? It’s not like I have anywhere to go.” Keith responded defensively.

“Oh yes you do. That’s it, you’re coming home with me. You have got to have some of my mom’s cooking and we have some space in a heated room for you to crash. No arguing with me young man. It’s a better option than sleeping in that shack and being alone and you know it.” Lance said sternly, getting up and reaching a hand down to Keith to pull him up with him. Lance could see the hesitance in Keith’s gaze as Keith tried to get out of it, but Lance was not one to lose. After a few moments of running through excuses, Keith sighed knowing that Lance wouldn’t let up until he agreed.

“Fine, I’ll come home with you. But just for tonight.” Keith responded, giving in. Lance smiled brightly at this.

“C’mon Mullet, you got a family of McClain’s to meet.” Keith groaned at the idea of meeting another Lance, let alone the army of them Lance was listing as they walked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This fic is not beta'd so I am sorry for any issues in the writing. Let me know what you think! Up next is Lance and Keith at the McClain household.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Leave your thoughts and comments below and I will update this as soon as possible!


End file.
